"Similarly, the screen will change when you go into battles. For bosses though, you move directly into battles with no real change."

DengekiPS: Will we actually be able to play Blitz-ball in Final Fantasy X?

Kitase-san: Yes, it's a mini-game and very easy to play. The sport itself does carry over into the storyline, and other characters are blitz-ball players, so it's fairly central to the game.

DengekiPS: You mentioned before that Final Fantasy X is intentionally more Asian influenced. How does this relate to sound?

Kitase-san: We explained the storyline and ideas to Mr. Uematsu, and it will be somewhat Asian influenced as well. We're still not sure whether the sound will be 5.1 channel compatible, but Mr. Uematsu is working hard to finish the music. As you know, Rikki has been chosen to perform the theme song.

DengekiPS: Lets get back to the storyline for a minute, can you give us any more details?

Nojima-san: One of the main themes is travel. We want players to completely explore the world, and we wanted to create something that loosely resembled contemporary life, but was also entirely unique. Final Fantasy X has a strong Asian influence also because all the previous titles in the series have been more European styled. The world looks vaguely similar to some places in Southeast Asia because that's the style we were going after. Particularly the way Western culture and Asian architecture are juxtaposed.

DengekiPS: Interesting, can you tell us what the world in Final Fantasy X is like? Is it made up of many islands like Asia?

Nojima-san: The world is similar to previous Final Fantasy games in the sense that there are separate countries with leaders. Unlike Final Fantasy VII and VIII though, the world hasn't progressed to a mechanical age. There are different races and castes of people. Tidus and Yuna are from different castes, and that factors into how they react to one another in the story. Things that are natural for Yuna are totally foreign for Tidus. This happens so frequently in the game, that you'll keep hearing Tidus say; 'What the..?' [laughs..]

DengekiPS: The one thing we really haven't seen are combat scenes. Has the system been changed much?

Tsuchida-san: It will utilize the same 'random encounter' battle system as previous Final Fantasy games. Similarly, the screen will change when you go into battles. For bosses though, you move directly into battles with no real change. Summons will still play a large part during battles as well.

DengekiPS: How many players can you have in your party?

Kitase-san: It's hard to explain, and I can't go into specifics yet. But normally, you can have three characters in your party. During battles however, you can have other characters join you.

Tsuchida-san: On the PlayStation 2 we could have included as many characters as we wanted per party. But in battles, when you have to put in commands for all of them, it slows things down. So we've adopted a system that lets you call other characters in whenever you need them.

DengekiPS: What about magic, what can we expect?

Kitase-san: Final Fantasy VII had a more realistic atmosphere, so magic became more complicated. But in Final Fantasy X, we're going completely the other way. The magic will be much more 'fantasy' styled this time around.

DengekiPS: What about limit break techniques?

Tsuda-san: Yes, they're also included. I think limit break techniques can also help express the personalities of certain characters. In Final Fantasy X we've specialized limit breaks into elemental and magic categories.

DengekiPS: Tidus will use a weapon called the 'water blade.' Can we surmise that it will have special water abilities?

Tsuchida-san: Yes, Tidus does have a strong connection to water. But we didn't give each character their own element per say.

DengekiPS: Tidus and Yuna seem destined to become romantically involved. Will the choices of players factor into the storyline at all?

Nojima-san: To some extent, yes. It's important to pay attention whenever the game prompts you to make choices. [laughs..]

DengekiPS: Will series favorites like Chocobo and Sid appear in X?

Kitase-san: Everyone asks that! [laughs..] Chocobo will appear as a form of transportation, and it's safe to say Sid will make an appearance as well.

DengekiPS: And the airship?

Nojima-san: Yes, but it will appear in a completely different form.

DengekiPS: Okay, any final words to your fans?

Kitase-san: With Final Fantasy X on the PlayStation 2, expect a leap like when we went from the Super Famicom to the PlayStation!

-- Translation By: Core Magazine